Realm of the Night God - Chapter 133: Interrogation

Master Zhou didn’t turn around. At this moment, his soul was fixed to the ground by the chains formed by Yin spirit power, unable to escape. Moreover, his soul couldn’t make any movements; he could only nod in response.

Even if his soul wasn’t restrained by the chains right now, he wouldn’t have turned around. Speaking was already an effort for him, let alone finding extra strength to turn around.

Although he didn’t turn around, Master Zhou knew which book Yang Haoran was referring to. There was only one book about talismans in his bag, so even without looking back, he knew what book Yang Haoran was holding.

Seeing Master Zhou nod, Yang Haoran didn’t speak further. Instead, he appeared contemplative. After a moment, his gaze returned to the tattered book in his hand.

“If someone of his age can self-study and become proficient with this book, I believe I can too.”

Yang Haoran decided to give it a try. The book in his hand detailed extensively how to become a talisman master. As long as he followed its instructions, becoming a talisman master wasn’t entirely impossible. After all, there were successful examples right before his eyes.

Moreover, trying it out wouldn’t harm him. Even if he ultimately failed, he would gain a better understanding of talismans. In the future, when encountering experts in talismans, he would be able to discern their methods.

With his decision made, Yang Haoran didn’t immediately delve into studying talisman techniques. Instead, he closed the tattered book and set it aside.

Currently, he had other matters to attend to.

His gaze fell upon the stack of talismans on the table. He didn’t recognize any of them. Initially, his plan was to inspect all the items on the table before asking Master Zhou to explain each talisman one by one. He wanted to know their names and functions.

However, he felt it was unnecessary now. He could find out the names and functions of these talismans by flipping through the book himself. Master Zhou wasn’t needed for this aspect of talismans. But he did need to ask Master Zhou about the demonic script recorded on that piece of human skin.

Additionally, he had many doubts about that cave. Perhaps Master Zhou could provide answers to those doubts.

With that in mind, Yang Haoran stood up, took the piece of human skin from the table, and then grabbed a chair before sitting beside Master Zhou.

Master Zhou was startled by Yang Haoran’s actions. He thought Yang Haoran was about to do something crazy again, and fear made his soul tremble involuntarily.

“There are some things I’d like to ask you about,” Yang Haoran said politely, waving the piece of human skin in front of Master Zhou.

Though his words were courteous, his tone was cold, intensifying the fear in Master Zhou’s heart.

“It’s not a bother to ask. Feel free to inquire about anything, and I’ll tell you what I know. Just please try to remain calm and not let impulsiveness take over,” Master Zhou spoke, trying to sound reassuring.

Upon hearing Zhou’s words, Yang Haoran’s expression turned even colder. He hadn’t expected that, under these circumstances, Master Zhou would still pretend in front of him. Someone unaware might think their relationship was much closer than it actually was.

Still, Yang Haoran restrained himself from acting out because he knew that if he did, Master Zhou’s soul would truly scatter.

For the following hour, Yang Haoran interrogated Master Zhou not only about the piece of human skin but also about everything concerning the cave.

This interrogation took up the entirety of an hour.

It all began with that cave.

The cave wasn’t discovered by Master Zhou but by his master. At that time, Master Zhou’s master found a corpse near the first stone gate leading to the cave, along with the tattered book recording methods of exorcism.

Though the book was aged, it wasn’t yet tattered back then. It only deteriorated over the years to its current state.

Master Zhou’s master wasn’t merely a Yin Yang Master versed in scripture chanting and spiritual ceremonies; he had real skills. And all his skills were learned from that tattered book.

Initially, Master Zhou knew nothing of the cave. His master never mentioned it until just before his passing, when he revealed the cave’s secrets to Master Zhou.

Master Zhou’s master obtained the tattered book from the first stone gate because it was already open. Thus, he had the opportunity to acquire the book.

Apart from the first stone gate, the other four stone gates were sealed to varying degrees. After acquiring his skills, Master Zhou’s master managed to open the second gate during his lifetime.

Behind the second gate, he found the second book, which detailed how to become a talisman master.

Shortly after obtaining the second book, Master Zhou’s master passed away. He passed on both books and the secret of the cave to his only disciple, Master Zhou.

Master Zhou’s master had no biological children. Master Zhou was an orphan he had taken in, treating him as his own, so naturally, before his passing, he disclosed all the secrets to Master Zhou without reservation.

After learning about the cave’s secret, Master Zhou was deeply shocked. At that time, he already possessed some power, and he had tasted the benefits it brought. Therefore, he yearned to become stronger.

The existence of the cave presented him with a great opportunity. In his view, if he could open the other three stone gates, he could undoubtedly obtain more unexpected benefits!

In the following time, Master Zhou devoted all his energy to the cave.

He first found the cave and saw the five gates, two of which had already been opened by his master, leaving three tightly shut gates.

Upon these three stone gates, he felt the power of seals, especially the gate that sealed Xue Li, which had the strongest sealing power.

At that time, he had tried various methods but couldn’t open these three gates. Frustrated, he temporarily shifted his focus from the cave’s stone gates to the book that detailed talisman techniques.

His master hadn’t researched the book for long before passing away, so he hadn’t become a talisman master before his death. To gain more power and abilities, Master Zhou spent a year transforming from a novice into a talisman master based on the book’s teachings.

A year’s time to become a talisman master might be considered fast or slow; Yang Haoran couldn’t judge, but if Wang Yiming knew about this, he would be astonished at Master Zhou’s talent.

Without a master’s guidance, even with detailed instructions from the book, one would still take many detours unless they had exceptional understanding and were extremely diligent. Otherwise, it would be impossible to become a talisman master in such a short time.

After becoming a talisman master, Master Zhou redirected his attention to the remaining three stone gates in the cave.

Fully prepared, he entered the cave again. At that time, he was much stronger both in power and insight compared to his previous entry.

This time, he successfully opened two stone gates. From one gate, he obtained the art of Corpse Control Sect, and from another, he obtained the demonic script recorded on human skin.

However, the stone gate where Xue Li was sealed remained impervious to his efforts.

Despite his failure, he didn’t give up. The more difficult it was to open, the more valuable the contents inside seemed to him, making him even more determined to open it.

Ultimately, he came up with a method: using Corpse Qi to corrode and weaken the curse’s power on the stone gate.

Through his discoveries, he found that Corpse Qi could indeed achieve this. However, to completely erode the power of the curse, he needed a massive amount of Corpse Qi. So, he decided to use numerous corpse puppets as cannon fodder to continuously wear down the curse’s power.

It was because of this decision that later on, Yang Haoran’s uncle was bitten to death by corpse fiends, and then the entire Yangjia Bay was transformed into corpse puppets.

After hearing Master Zhou’s account, most of Yang Haoran’s doubts were resolved.

Through Master Zhou’s narration combined with Xu Meijing’s words in the cave, Yang Haoran speculated that the figures behind the other four stone gates were likely fatally wounded while dealing with Xue Li. Therefore, after trapping Xue Li in the stone chamber, they knew their time was limited, hastily leaving their legacies in their respective stone chambers, awaiting a worthy inheritor.

Of course, this was merely Yang Haoran’s speculation, and he couldn’t guarantee its accuracy.

However, several decades had passed since these events, and whether or not they were significant didn’t matter anymore because they had no connection to him. What he cared about were the current matters related to him.

He looked at Master Zhou. During Master Zhou’s narration, he hadn’t made any moves against him. So, Master Zhou had somewhat recovered. Although still weak, his soul had stabilized.

“You mentioned earlier that the script on this beast skin is a secret technique called the Soul Confusion Art. I’m curious, how do you know demonic script?”

[Heartfelt thankyou for the support! BokuBoku]